Outside with Charlie: Snow! :)

You probably have noticed that friends who ski, snowboard, or snowshoe are sporting great big smiles. The snow that fell Friday and Saturday coated the Sierra with a superb coating of light, powdery snow.

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Late autumn storms like this one give a huge boost to the ski resorts. While they have been busy making snow — some of them a lot of it — having the clouds open up with the real stuff is pure bliss.

Sierra-at-Tahoe opened Friday with limited terrain. Throughout the day, the snow totals kept going up and they ended up with over 32 inches powder.

Steve Hemphill, public relation at the resort, said the skiing is awesome.

Anyone who enjoys downhill skiing dreams of these kinds of conditions. When there is light powder that isn’t too deep, the skiing and boarding just make people giggle all the way through whatever run they’re on.

When the powder is overly deep, only those with fat boy skis and snowboarders have a good time. They ride on the snow instead of sinking too deep into it. Everyone with normal skis find that when the powder is up past their knees, and their skis are buried, it’s a whole different ski day. Actually, it’s more like a whole different half of a ski day.

Sierra-at-Tahoe put $5 million into a new base area that’s about 9,000 square feet of comfort, with a new retail area. There is also a new outdoor paved patio.

Sierra has also expanded its Star Wars snowboard program. When it first launched two years ago, it was for the 5-6 year old crowd. That experience has expanded to 7 through 12 year olds.

Another chunk of good news right now is that a day at Sierra for adults is $40, $20 for children.

A short drive, delicious conditions and food, and bragging rights for scoring a great lift ticket. Time to ski. Get outside.